A trip to Toledo turned out to be a perfect weekend getaway for the Saint Ignatius varsity golf team, especially its senior leader.
Michael McCaffrey turned the tournament into a vacation, rolling to a remarkable score of 72 to lead the Golf Cats to a second place finished at the Saint John's Jesuit Invitational.
McCaffrey day started out with a score of 40 on the front nine, a solid score for the senior. But his performance on the back nine wowed his teammates and his coach. McCaffrey tied a school record with an incredible 32 on the back nine, four strokes below par at Maumee Bay. That's quite the day on links.
McCaffrey's team-best score helped the Wildcats finish with a team total of 309, just two strokes back of Van Buren, the tournament winner.
Ross Williamson stood as the second-best finisher on the team, tallying a 77 on Saturday. Connor Warns also came in with a sub-80 score of 79. Nick Longano penciled in an 81 at the end of the day, while Jake Moraca and Ryan Grabowski left Toledo with scores of 84.
After finishing second out of 15 teams at the Titan Cup, the Golf Cats will start preparing for the Dublin Jerome Invitational on Saturday. The Wildcats will travel to Tartan Fields Golf Course, northwest of Columbus, for the tournament.
THE JESUIT SAVES THE DAY: While the varsity squad was en route to Toledo, the JV Gold Cats were on their way to Columbus for the Bishop Waterson Invitational. Just outside of Mansfield, the JV Gold Cats experienced some bad luck.
As Coach Tom Beach described it, an alarm suddenly began beeping inside the van. Less than a mile later, the van shut down, forcing Coach Beach to drive the van to safety on the side of the road.
Fortunately for the Golf Cats, an Ohio State Highway Patrol officer happened to be nearby assisting another driver and approached the Wildcats. Then, another stroke of luck quelled the Wildcats' fears of being stranded.
As Beach talked to the officer, he heard a voice call out, "Hey, Tom Beach!" The voice belonged to Father Paul Shelton, S.J., a theology teacher and assistant cross country coach.
As it happens, Fr. Shelton was driving north on I-71, returning from a visit to his parents in Columbus. Shelton, Strongsville-bound to watch the Cross Country Cats race, turned around at the next exit to help the Golf Cats.
Shelton and a state trooper taxied the Wildcats to a nearby Bob Evans as a tow truck took Beach and the van to a local car repair shop. The repair took about an hour, and by that point, the Wildcats were too late to make the invitational.
Even still, Beach and the Golf Cats wanted to express their gratitude to Shelton and the Ohio State Highway Patrol for going far above and beyond the call of duty. Coincidentally, the state trooper who assisted the Wildcats has two nephews at Saint Ignatius, including one on the cross country team.
Barring any more transportation issues, the Wildcats will return to action next Saturday at Sleepy Hollow Golf Course versus University School.